Host: Amanda Holloway
Guest: George Hawkins | CEO | Moonshot Missions
Category: 🔬 Research
Podcast’s Essential Bites:
[2:08] “It's been really cool to see […] the cutting edge technologies and how they continue to advance [at WEFTEC]. [This] is then connected to [we] are trying to do with Moonshot, which is how to help entities that really need the benefit of these technologies, learn about them and adopt them. Because the message that I still get from WEFTEC, every time I come here, is that we don't have an innovation or a technology problem. There's incredible technologies at the ready. We have an adoption issue.”
[2:52] “The barriers for most utilities in underserved communities [are] resources. And the way I describe it, when I engage with these utilities is that they run fire departments. Really good, committed people, dedicated, but they're responding to problems, when the fire hits and mobilizing their trucks to respond. That is absolutely the most expensive way to run any operation and also after the risk has happened. So people are at risk, because there's a sewer backup, or a water main break, or whatever the problem is, and now you're responding.”
[3:22] “What's possible is that you'd be preventative. You solve the problem before it happens. It's less expensive. […] The question is how to identify and adopt those strategies? That takes time. It takes money. And those are the two things that underserved communities don't have. So that's where Moonshot is trying to help is help provide that access to and […] identify what those things are and put them in place. […] What you see at WEFTEC is mostly the supply […]. [We] work on the demand to help the organizations that can adopt them and put them in place.”
[13:37] “The big issue for […] everyone in this sector is to make sure that [Infrastructure Bill] money is spent in a way that transforms systems and doesn't just replace them. And the phrase I use is rather than shovel ready, which is if I have an old thing, I replace it with a new thing. But it’s the same thing, that's easy to do, easy to design, easy to implement. Shovel worthy [is] a project that isn't just replacing the old thing […]. [For example] let's put in a new valve that has a sensor on it that will alert us when there's a pressure problem before the water main breaks. That'll take a little extra time and money to prepare, but the payoff is multiple.”
Rating: 💧💧
🎙️ Full Episode: Apple | Spotify
🕰️ 23 min | 🗓️ 11/29/2021
✅ Time saved: 21 min
